ok, so i am a proud mum!

after much thought and some advice sought on here, i decided to let 5 month old lily have the run of the house.

i started (as suggested by helena54) by letting her free at night time to start off with.

as this week has progressed i have left her to have the run of the house in the daytime while i am at work.

so far, so very good! my house looks the same when i return at lunch to walk her and dylan and at night, well lets say that i have a lovely hot water bottle now the nights are getting cooler!

she is such a chilled out pup and big bro dylan is beginning to reap the benefits of having her around.

Aww Bless her Well Done Lily, you're such a good girl. Also Well Done to Dylan for helping her out

I wish Anubis was as good! Eden is an angel, but Nubi gets bored if left to his own devices. The other day I left them in the kitchen for 10 mins whilst I hoovered the rest of the house. All I could see when I opened the kitchen door was the brand new bag of cat litter and its contents scattered all over the floor.... I had very strong words with him and he actually looked ashamed

thanks guys! she really is being a little star and long may it last.

just for you though bingowings, my first dog was a rescue lurcher and for the first 2 years i had him, he chewed anything that wasn't nailed down! toys, shoes, duvets, cushions. the list was endless!

Haha...would like you like to swop for an absolutely insane Slovakian Pointer of the same age??

In all seriousness, that is great that she can be trusted so young. My Bo is the same age and the thought of leaving her loose and unsupervised in the house sends a shiver down my spine!

erm, i think i'll pass on that one!

i must admit that i am surprised (and delighted) at how good she is. i wonder if 12 year old dylan has helped because he is so good in the house. maybe he is a calming influence on her!

she's teething at the moment too as i found one of her big teeth on the floor the other day. i haven't noticed an increase in her wanting to chew and she has a chew stick in the evening after her tea which she generally chews on for about half an hour.

Hmm...maybe it is a little dog thing? my Yorkie is/was a piece of cake. No trouble at all. But my big dawgs...yikes.

maybe but i have heard some horror stories about terriers and how much they love to chew! i guess we are the lucky ones with ours!

so what does your bo get up to then dare i ask?

Way to go Lily

I'd be jolly proud of her too

Well done Lily, I knew you wouldn't let your mum down!!! Start as you mean to go on, and if you don't expect any damage I'm sure you don't get it! I'm now out for 3 hours some mornings, and just like you, I come home to the same house I left at 8.30 am.! Then they get to go out for a nice long walk, just coz they've been so very good, you have to reward with the trusting like that I think?!

Ahem, I did have one very small blip the other day, but it was MY fault, the lid broke on the kitchen bin, and the little monkey pulled it off and pulled out all the empty food wrappers, coz thank God there was nothing much else in there, not even further down if she had of pulled more out, but it taught me a very big lesson, and we now have a brand new sparkly bin with a lid that shuts!

I don't think I've yet got to the stage that I can leave a cooked chicken on the worktop like I always did with George and my last dog, but it'll come!

NOw you must trust her, she's a very good girl at that young age bless her heart, don't forget to praise her lots and lots when you get back home for being such a little starlet Awwww, isn't it great to hear some positive for a change instead of all the naughtiness, which I know we all have at times!